Zack Flores is a 17-Year-Old Shaping Wizard | HANDMADE | SURFER

It’s crazy to think that at just 17 years old, Zack Flores is already a highly-skilled handshaper, having frequented the bay since he was 11 and soaked up countless hours of sage advice from San Diego craftsman Jim Phillips. It’s no surprise that the lithe ripper prefers shaping himself foiled-out, low volume craft, even in his longboards, which feel more or less like stretched out wafers. Those longboards are tricky to make (especially in an barn turned into a shaping bay on the fly), so for our “Handmade” trip, Zack gave his 9’1″ blank a pass and borrowed some foam and templates from his fellow shapers, blending a few ideas together to make an incredibly-fun-looking winged twinnie. Press play above to hear Zack’s thoughts on handshaping and watch him tear the bag out of his local break on a fresh self-shape.